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Ido of tho frontier. Such is the present situa
tion If the powers kept their hands off nirKey
-would undoubtedly, after a war of atrocities un
paralleled In Europe for centuries, defeat Bul
garia and occupy that country. But the only cer
tain thing In the whole chaotic situation is that
tho powers will not keep their hands off. They
will not permit the Turk to extend his system
In Europe. It may be that all four of the little
Balkan Independencies will be drawn into the
struggle. In that case they are likely to wind up
as dependencies or provinces of some bigger na
tion, which would not be a world calamity, since
Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania, and Montenegro are
no better than they ought to be. Austria is now
administering two former Turkish provinces
Bosnia and Herzegovina and administering them
well. They were formerly given over to slaugh
ter, pillage, and persecution, but they are now
lands of plenty and peace. If Austria i3 assigned
the task of deodorizing and disinfecting another
slice of the Balkan territory her past perform
ances warrant the hope that she will do it well.
Broadly speaking, any settlement that leaves the
Turk in Europe will be but temporary, for as long
as he remains west of tho Bosphorus the Balkan
question will live."
THE PORTO RICAN' ASSEMBLY BY A VOTE
of GO to 15 has asked that congress shall
admit the territory to full statehood or grant
Porto Rico her Independence. The Sioux City
(la.) Journal, a republican paper, referring to
this demand, says: "The news comes as an un
welcome surprise, but in the absence of informa
tion to the contrary the American public will as
sume that the resolution does not mean. ju3t what
it seems to mean and that the Porto Rican legis
lators acted without considering the matter fully.
Certainly it cannot be deemed vital to Porto Rican
interests that the island shall be admitted to full
statehood at thi3 time, and as for independence it
is out of the question from any viewpoint. The
Journal admits, however, that "Porto Rico should
take a seat beside Alaska, Hawaii, and the home
territories prepared to do a little patient wait
ing." ONE OF THE CLAUSES IN THE LEGISLA
tlve appropriation bill recently introduced
in congress forbids the payment ol any money
appropriated therein for paying the expense of
horses and carriages or drivers other than for
those used by the president, the heads of de
partments and secretary to the president, and
this clause is designed to put an end to an abuse
which has existed for many years. The Wash
ington correspondent for the Philadelphia Public
Ledger, referring to the measure, says: "The
practice has been for every assistant secretary
and many chiefs of divisions to have carriages
for their exclusive use purchased with public
funds and maintained at the public expense. This
was done by indirect methods and payments made
from appropriations of a miscellaneous character.
These carriages not being required by the officials
are used by the women members of their families
in making calls, attending parties and theatres.
There is no effort to conceal this use of the pub
lic property and funds for private convenience and
profit. There is one case that is especially no
ticeable. The head of a certain division, who
lives at a boarding house, kindly loans his laud
lady the official carriage to do her marketing, and
in the afternoons and evening tb.2 daughter of
the house has the unrestricted use of the outfit."
V? JC
AL ADAMS, THE POLICY KING OF NEW
York, was escorted to Sing Sing eight
months ago. His case was taken from one court
to another, and it has finally been determined
that tho policy king must remain in prison. A
writer for the Chicago Chronicle says that al
though Adams Is confined in the penitentiary, he
la conducting an Immense real estate business
"from that home of vocal culture" without in
terruption. This writer explains: 'Adams Is
eaid to bo worth ?G,000,000 and the lowest esti
mate placed on his fortune is ?4,000,000. He was
convicted after one of the most bitter legal strug
gles in tho history of the state and finally landed
in the state penitentiary for three years. The
charge against him was that he was conducting
policy games throughout New York and the evi
dence was overwhelming. Adams, it seems, is
permitted by the prison authorities to superin
tend his big real estate operations and this work
takes up most of his time. He is confined in the
hospital ward as a patient, but, although he
cannot break stono or make overalls, he finds
The Commoner.
that his health permits him to do a pretty -good
day's work in attending to his private affairs.
IT K
THE "SOLDIER'S VOTE," ACCORDING TO
the Washington Post, is a myth. Of course
tue Post admits that the old soldiers vote, but It
declares the idea that any considerable number
of participants in the civil war are banded to
gether as a separate and distinct factor in poll
tics is a wild absurdity. The Post adds: "The
man who says that these ex-soldiers as a class
are thus banded and that they act on the pre
sumption that without such a political organiza
tion they could not get just treatment from our
government, grossly insults them and outrageous
ly maligns the American people." The Post adds:
"For it Is a fact and one of the greatest facts
in this republic's history that the people, act
ing through their national, state and municipal
governments, have made it their paramount duty
ever since the war began to manifest their love
and gratitude to the defenders of the Union.
There is not a more eloquent or impressive story
in the annals of the human race since time began
than the record of this affectionate and grateful
appreciation. It has excited the wonder and ad
miration of the civilized world as a new departure
on loftier lines than any other people ever
dreamed of." '
TT IS THOUGHT TO BE A BIT SIGNIFICANT
1 that while English-speaking Canada is all
lor Japan, French Canadian sympathy is as un
mistakably for Russia as it was for the anti
British side in the Boer war. The Ottowa, Canada,
correspondent for the Ctrcago Tribune says that
it would just now be a ticklish thing for the
government of Canada to allow the idea to go
forth that the British war office authorities can
count on Canadian troops for service in Asia if
the mother country is eventually drawn into the
conflict, and for this reason all offers of service
from military men who are under the impression
that Canada may before long be asked to co-operate
with Great Britain in the far east are dis
couraged. FOR SEVERAL YEARS AMERICAN NEWS
paper readers have heard considerable about
the great trans-Siberian railway. Speaking to
the New York correspondent for the Chicago Tri
bune, Charles Kliene, an Englishman who for
twenty years served in the Chinese custom ser
vice, said that for a distance of four thousand
miles this road was mined in various places and
that at a given signal, or what is far easier at a
specified time, the road could be damaged and
connection between Russia and the far east prac
tically destroyed. This traveler says: "Japan
began to prepare for war long ago, for months
spies have swarmed over Manchuria and eastprn
Siberia getting information and making prepara
tions. Everything that could be learned" thev
have learned, and they are in a position to act"
c ac
TN EVERY SECTION GANG OF CHINESE
J. coolies along the railway, according to Mr
Kliene there have been Japanese who have had
no difficulty In disguising themselves and have
quietly employed their spare time in distributing
explosives along the track ready to be set off at
the proper time Many of these hav worked
upon tho line when it was being built Orh
were skilled engineers vhc used their eyeoand
ears as well as their hands ann m i-i ? m
ttet "the Wowing up rfK.roV ttfJT
?Sry '..,0,vi1M of the truth of my u"er4or
structed. Instead oLi C'. con"
serviceable track from St PetoSbmi V a.nfl
uau is ot cneap and dangerous makeshift."
R' 5 HAIL.
are light and the ties toffarnn?'?; "The
traffic The f oVm ? J , tar heavy
usually rest on three ties one in Set 1,ong- ana
one at each end. In laytae th 5 th midlile and
simply cut down tr6es as f hfiv ? th? worken
ting the logs and layln' the ronnH SpIit
most. The rails are Sp2i 8ide upper
te and to each o?h Z L$ It6 to lho
number of rivets being used at thl th1 requisite
tempt to convey a largs " todv ?? 6nd3' To at
railway in a hurry & fe
. -,, VOLUME 4, NUMBER T.
possibility. In the first place, the trains cannot
consist of more than four or five cars, because of
the character of the track Then, partly for the
same reason, a speed of much more than twentv
miles an hour ig not attainable. Likewise tee
transportation of heavy guns would be attended
with vexatious delays. The Chinese all along the
road are m thorough sympathy with the Japanese
All ill feeling engendered by the Ghino-Japanp?e
war has died out, and Japanese spies will not lack
support from the people among vhom they
work."
NO ONE NOW SERIOUSLY DOUBT S THAT
Mr. Roosevelt will he nominated by ac
clamation in the republicanconvention. The New
York Tribune says that thirty-eight delegates
have so far been chosen, and of these thirty-four
have been instructed for Mr. Roosevelt. State and
territorial conventions have been called for tho
following dates: Alabama, Birmingham, Aiay io
Idaho, Pocatello, May 10; Illinois, Springfield
May 12; Indian Territory, Claremore, March 17 '
Kansas, Wichita, March 9; Louisiana, New Or
leans, February 17; Minnesota, Minneapolis
March 17; Mississippi, Jackson, March 23- Mis
souri, Kansas City, March 22; Nebraska, Lincoln
May 8; North Carolina, Greensboro, May is-'
Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, April 6, South Carol
Una, Columbia, February 24; Tennessee Nash
ville, April 7; Virginia, Norfolk, March 3; West
Virginia, Charleston, April 14: Georgia, Atlanta
March 23; Texas, Dallas, March 22.
ac ic
IT IS PROPOSED BY THE JAPANESE OF NEW
York to raise ?5,0u0,000 to aid their homo
country in its war with Russia. The Nnw York
World says that while this suggestion will per
haps excite surprise because of the size of the
gift contemplated, there is no doubt of their abil
ity to finance their patriotism to the extent prom
ised. The World adds: "The importance of Ja
panese business interests in the city is not gen
erally realized. A quarter of a century ago ibo
Japanese commercial houses of consequence in
this country could be numbered on -the fingers
of one hand. They are now very numerous and
almost uniformly prosperous. With the begin
ning of the new order of things in the island king
dom there set .in a tide of emigration to rhe
United States which last year reached the large
number of 19,968. That is to say, more than half
as many Japanese came as Irish and very neany
half as many as came from Germany. Scotland
sent only one-third as many, France one-fourth
and Spain one-ninth. They brought with them
an intelligence and industry, an adaptability to
occupation ranging from the kitchen to the couut-
f001 and a spirit of sood citizenship by
which the nation has been largely the gainer.
The Yankees of the East fit very quickly and
"wen into the Yankeedom of the west"
tr tr
REFERRING TO THE RECENTLY OK
ganized gigantic combination In the whisky
trade, a reporter for tho Cincinnati Enquirer
ashed Col. Fred Kinsinger, one of the leading
spirits in new trusts, what the effect of the new
organization will be. The colonel replied. "Well,
it will result in preventing a demoralization or
the spirits and alcohol trade by the cutting of
prices. And in addition the output will be reg
ulated so that tho market will not suffer from
overproduction. At present the distilleries of the
country use about 60,000 bushels of grain a oay
m manufacturing their output and I believe that
Vi fiU .be kept up in fact ifc may DQ increased.
At tnis time of tho year, when the navigation of
me country is closed, the whisky business feels
it. products cannot be shipped by many of the
water ways at this time of the year and there
is always a falling off in the demand as a con-
HeT Th0 fact is that tnere has been a great
ni S, cutting in the prices in the spirit trade,
and this brought about a lamentable state of af
lairs which we are trying 'to remedy."
T HE CLAIM IS MADE THAT THE UNITED
irMhS government is the only one in the
SSm Jh,c? b.uilds and maintains homes for its
h-ivn wVOlunte?r oWlers. Eight of. these homes
Hamntnn vWCtS?' trespectiveljr at Togas, Me.;
2 0ya.; Dayton, O.; Marion, Ind Mil-
Kvm8,iT,Jflawnworth. Kas-; Sawtelle, Cal.,
havn n lllG' A11- Ifc Is 8aifl tuat tflese eight homes
erii tSnSapJSC,it?r oE 25000 tamates, which is sev
tinifl U U8aml, less tnan the number who are en
homL ? admls?ion under the laws governing the
homes for disabled volunteer soldiers.
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